John Trapp on John 18:39

Verſe 39. But ye have a cuſtome] An ungaine, ungodly cuſtome it was, Prov. 17.15. What ever were the ground of it. Some thinke it was in memory of Jonathan, In iſt a conſuetudine turpe & craſſum ſuit vitium Calv. Goodw. Antiq. Heb p. 39. Prov. 28.97. reſcued from his father by the people. Others, that the Feaſt might be celebrated with the greater joy and gladneſſe. Others, more probably, in remembrance of their deliverance from the Aegyptian bondage. But why ſhould any Barabbas ſcape by it? A bloody man ſhall flee to the pit, and no man may ſtay him.